Vikram Samvat

Vikram Samvat (Vikram Samwat, Vikram Sambat, Bikram Samvat, Bikram Samwat, Bikram Sambat or Vikram's Era, Devanagari:विक्रम सम्वत्, abbreviated as "V.S." or "B.S") is the calendar established by Indian emperor Vikramaditya. It is the official calendar of Nepal and is popularly used in India.

The Vikrama Samvat was founded by the emperor Vikramaditya of Ujjain following his victory over the Sakas in 56 BCE, although it is popularly (and incorrectly) associated with the subsequent king Chandragupta Vikramaditya. It is a lunar calendar based on ancient Hindu tradition (see Hindu calendar and Vedic time keeping). The Vikram Samvat calendar is 56.7 years ahead (in count) of the solar Gregorian calendar. For example, the year 2056 BS began in CE 1999 and ended in CE 2000. The new year begins with the first day after the new moon, in the month of Kartika, Kartik Shuddha 1; which is the second most important day of Diwali which usually falls in October and November in the Gregorian calendar. In Nepal, it begins in mid-April and marks the start of the solar new year.

In India, the Saka Calendar is officially used, although in the Hindi version of Preamble of The Constitution of India, the date of adoption of constitution 26 Nov 1949 is presented in Vikram Samvat (Margsheersh Shukla Saptami Samvat 2006 ). There have been calls for Vikram Samvat to replace Saka as India's official calendar.